This invention relates to a materials handling vehicle that can be modified quickly and inexpensively to use either cushion tires or pneumatic tires.
Materials handling vehicles, such as fork lift trucks, may operate in a variety of different environments. When operating primarily inside a structure where the surface is generally smooth and relatively clean and dry, a cushion tire is preferred, and when operating out-of-doors where more adverse conditions previal, a pneumatic tire is preferred. Cushion tires typically provide a more stable platform for the vehicle. Pneumatic tires are larger in diameter than cushion tires and provide better traction, especially under adverse conditions.
Usually, a truck manufacturer will design a truck for use with either cushion tires or pneumatic tires. It is possible, however, to change an existing fork lift truck from one type of tire to the other, but in doing so, major adjustments must be made to accommodate the different tire diameters. These adjustments are necessary to provide the proper clearance between the tire and the body of the truck, and also to increase the wheel base when using pneumatic tires. Converting from one type of tire to another is both time consuming and expensive and requires the manufacturer to maintain an inventory of those parts necessary to accomplish the conversion.
What is needed is a truck that can use either cushion or pneumatic tires, where the conversion can be made without extensive inventories of parts, and a truck that can be converted quickly, either in the factory immediately prior to delivery, or by the dealer.